TEGUCIGALPA .- Strange rumblings and fumaroles on some mountains of the country often alarmed the residents, who worried call the relief agencies to do monitoring in these regions, as if anticipating the possible eruption of a dormant volcano.
In the foreground and the background, the perfect cone of the volcano on the island of El Tigre, Amapala seen from the coast of Coyolito where you notice the dark water and sand as evidence of volcanic activity in the Gulf of Fonseca.
Although few studies in the country, experts confirmed our website 01centralamerica.com the existence of such “giants” in the country, completely distorting the misinformation regarding educational institutions in Honduras there are no volcanoes and is free of any eventuality.
Traditionally, it is said that the only volcanic incidence in the country has been on the island of El Tigre, Amapala, Valley, and Lake Yojoa, located between Comayagua, Cortes, and Santa Barbara.
But experts said that only the capital is surrounded by 32 volcanic cones or ridges and nationally there are over 100, most sleeping an eternal sleep. They are still latent likely that some could erupt suddenly.
FIGURES
The figures are not accurate due to the lack of studies and mapping, in that sense, much of the population could be settled in places that stored geologically volcanic evidence, but most are inactive.
Experts have identified six cones with heights between 700 and 800 meters above sea level in the Lake Yojoa.
For decades, this issue has been handled as a myth and it has even been rude to the people denying the existence and its consequences, if any event no one will know how to deal with the lack of information.
A survey by this newspaper to students of primary, secondary and university education in 90 percent of those said to ignore the presence volcanic while others ensured that interest them.
Experts from the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH), the National Pedagogical University Francisco Morazan (UPNFM), the Polytechnic Engineering University (UPI), the Institute of Geoscience Honduras (IGH) and the National Geographic Institute (IGN) say it is time to move from myth to reality.
VOLCANIC ACTIVITY IN CENTRAL AMERICA
Geographers UPN-FM during a field exercise identified “hot spots”, including mountain Uyuca, Francisco Morazan.
The geotectonic map of Honduras are marked in pink the air igneous magma or solid sediments, forming the third part of the country.
It is estimated that over 40,000 square kilometers of trails are home to Honduras volcanic activity, identified about 100 necks, 32 of which are located around the capital, mostly unnamed.
Most volcanic cones are located in areas central, southern and eastern Honduras, mainly in the areas of the municipalities bordering El Salvador and Nicaragua and in different regions of the Central District.
Some are known as “the classics,” which include those located in the Gulf of Fonseca, as the islands of El Tigre and Zacate Grande Mountain Babylon in the Lake Yojoa, Pico Bonito, La Ceiba, Atlantida,and near the road to Santa Rosa de Copan. Also, some cones can be seen carved on the road to Siguatepeque, Comayagua.
A large pink area in the geotectonic map of Honduras shows that a third of the national territory dormant volcanic activity.
In the book “Honduras: the Geography,” by Pedro Paz and Ruben Dario, published in 1999, explained that generally, the idea is that only Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Costa Rica have volcanoes, but if everyone is in a same geographical origin as isthmus, Honduras also has fiery signs.
Clarifies that are “dormant volcanoes,” but who were active a million years ago, taking as evidence the remains of lava rocks and most of the national territory.
In this topic, the author Noah Pineda Portillo in his book “Geography of Honduras,” explains the geological map of Central America, especially in Honduras are four characterizations.
The central part is covered by metamorphic basement in another sector, there are sedimentary rocks of the Mesozoic period, mainly Cretaceous, and in the southern and southwestern seen plenty of Tertiary volcanic rocks, while in the northeastern portion of the Quaternary alluvium exists.
GEOLOGICAL STUDIES IN CENTRAL AMERICA
The specialist Cesar Rodriguez, UNAH, explained in a map of volcanic activity in Central America.
In the country there are many places to the naked eye can detect volcanic, especially the elevation and the summit craters, igneous rocks, hot springs, the dark color of the water in the Pacific coast of Honduras, the smoke rises naturally from the land and the roar emanating from deep in places.
The researcher of the Museum of Natural History at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras (UNAH), César Rodríguez, said where else can you detect the incidence is the southern volcanic, as even at sea occurs because the sand and water the coast is dark as a result of the ashes and remains of magma.
The expert noted that the most active volcanic phenomena was the Tertiary, when the area originated Gracias a Dios, where it is located the Mosquito, which millions of years ago did not exist as such, but it was an area of swamps and their average height above sea level ranged from zero to 50 meters.